» Thu May 29, 2014 10:45 am Fame - or infamy - is an important part of any roleplaying experience even though it was never really well used in TES series. That attribute has importance in the gameplay since it is the actual consequence that the player receives for his actions. The problem is, it was only depicted by a single number - or two if considering Oblivion and it had no real in-game impact other than the way the player is greeted.
In this way, a good fame system would reflect the various branches of a medieval fantasy world. Not only this system will be significantly more fun, it will also give speechcraft, finally, some usefulness.
So, what are the different kinds of fame available? Well, right now I can think of these:
- Wealth - Ranging from Poor to Rich, it may attract unwanted attention from bandits.
- Factions Disposition – Ranging from Enemy to Allied; starting at the middle of the spectrum. Represents the way the player is seen by the many factions.
- Adventurer - Ranging from Unknown to Epic Hero, it represents the great quests and/or great daedric artifacts the player completed and/or retrieved.
- Honor - Ranging from Dishonorable to Honorable; starting at the middle of the spectrum. Represents the player's behavior when dealing with anyone. If the player is always truthful and righteous, the honor rating goes up. If on the other hand the player robs, lie and backstab people around him, his honor will go down.
- Battling - This one is segmented into four branches:
- Combat - Ranging from nothing to Knight1.
- Magic - Ranging from nothing to Arcane Master1.
- Shadow - Ranging from nothing to Ghost1.
- Archery2 - Ranging from nothing to Distant Menace1.
Other data can be gathered and will add to the fame not included in those up above:
- Killing different factions characters may shift their dispositions towards the player.
- Successfully completing quests that will affect different kinds of factions will also shift their disposition.
- Pray several times at the church and do church related quests and the status of religious might be acquired.
- Critical decisions made at critical points in questlines might alter the way the player is perceived3.
- Complete bounties and the status of Bounty Hunter might be achieved. This would make bandits avoid the player.
- Kill many bandits and receive the title of Bandit Slayer. Though this might attract vengeance seeking bandits.
- Kill many characters and be feared as a Mass Murderer. This would also attract guards and bounty hunters.
If this system is to be well implemented, the way the player completes the quest will give him different points in his fame scale. Solve a dispute diplomatically and points will be granted in honor and wealth - if there's a reward. Kill one of the parties, and the honor goes down while the wealth and battling goes up. Therefore, the way the player behave will change the way he is perceived.
Ok, the system is made up. So, why is this important? This is important because it gives consequences. Right now there's no consequence in TES series. Even if we climb up to the top of the Assassins and Thieves Guilds there's really no big deal in that. There's no need to enter in cities at night, or jumping from roof to roof, or using different entrances such as the sewers to avoid being seen by guards.
Being known as a great hero doesn't draw attention from the opposite gender, doesn't attract children to hear stories, doesn't give bonuses to bartering, doesn't grant the right to enter in the palace - that's right, entering a palace is a privilege granted only to the noble.
Being known as honorable for instance might also give discount at stores, some inns might let the player rest there for free, some characters like priests might give you quests they wouldn't before, and so on. On the other hand the Thieves and Assassins Guild will both remain hidden from the player, interaction with hideous members of society will be restricted, and much more. Being dishonorable will open the path to pursue quests in both guilds, raise the prices with vendors, but grant access to new vendors, such as smugglers and new locations such as hideous taverns that only criminals use.
What I propose here is a healthy discussion on how to port those concepts of a “radial” fame into the game and how it can enhance the game experience.
PS.: The examples given here are merely illustrative.
1A good system would combine some of those fame numbers and compose “individual” fame status. Therefore, a shadowy thief who engages in battle but doesn't kill would be known (among thieves only, someone widely recognized as a great thief is definitely not a great thief!) solely as Ghost, while a thief who's also a murderer would receive the title of Ghost Killer. So, this can be set as:
- Ghost: If skilled and dishonorable.
- Shadow Killer: If skilled, dishonorable and murderer.
The same can be applied to the warrior fame status which can be:
- Knight: If honorable, skilled and noble.
- Fierce Warrior: If only skilled.
- Paladin: If skilled, honorable and religious.
- Barbarian: If murderer and skilled.
And the magic branch:
- Cleric if skilled in restoration, honorable and religious.
- Arcane Master if skilled.
- Dark Magician if skilled and dishonorable.
2It is my understanding that archery is a combat art that it's unrelated to thieves and assassins, therefore, not under the Shadow branch, but that is a discussion to another topic.
3Examples of questlines that involve, at some point, a decision would be: let a girl die and get the gold or the opposite; support one political party and oppose the others; save a village from its oppressor or side with the oppressor for wealth, choose a god over another, taking part in a trial as a judge, etc.
